Steve Smith sees himself as a “complementary dude” in Ravens offense

Posted by Josh Alper on March 16, 2014, 10:02 AM EST

AP

Steve Smith was the No. 1 receiver in Carolina for a long time, but he sees a different role for himself now that he’s a member of the Ravens.

Smith says that he’s studied the offense that Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak ran as the head coach in Houston and likes the “creative ways” that Houston got the ball to their receivers other than Andre Johnson. That’s the role that Smith envisions for himself in 2014 in an offense that he feels will allow him to benefit from the presence of others rather than being the guy that every defense is trying to stop.

“I don’t see myself in Coach Kubiak’s system like [Johnson],” Smith said, via the team’s website. “I see the complementary dude of [former Texans wide receiver] Kevin Walter. I see how he contributed and how he was instrumental in getting Andre the ball but also getting his own opportunities.”

The Ravens offense may not have a true No. 1, at least not in the way that Johnson has been the top dog in Houston. That doesn’t mean Smith’s description of his role is incorrect, though. He and a healthy Dennis Pitta can draw enough attention over the middle that Torrey Smith finds opportunities over the top while the opposite should also be true if defenses focus their attention in that direction.

37 Responses to “Steve Smith sees himself as a “complementary dude” in Ravens offense”

jakec4 says:Mar 16, 2014 10:25 AM

Smith’s tough play and leadership are top selling points along with his production. No way the Ravens are expecting him to catch 80+ balls. If he pitches in for 50-60 catches, and can do most of his damage on third down underneath while their speed on the outside stretches the defense, the Ravens will be getting what they’re paying for.

The problem is that just because Smith is saying he has no problem not being the #1 guy now, it doesn’t mean he’s going to like it while it’s happening in games. He’s very volatile, and could be different when the honeymoon period ends.

pabrownsfan says:Mar 16, 2014 10:28 AM

Very nice pick up.

bennyb82 says:Mar 16, 2014 10:36 AM

This signing has to make Torrey Smith happy. Look for him to have a better year…

wildcatjoe says:Mar 16, 2014 10:36 AM

As soon as he gets in Flacco’s face his days will be numbered. It’s happened everytime before and it will happen again. Nobody questions the ‘elite’.

cant wait to watch mike “the missile” Mitchell knock this old geritol taking pip squeak out! steelers are now younger and way more talented than any other team in the afc north! believe it! #steelersowntheafcnorth!

Smith will add a Boldin-like weapon to Flacco’s arsenal, and I’m predicting the Ravens will have a tremendous season this year. Flacco has a lot to prove to a lot of idiots who trash him here with their comments, and Smith always feels like he has a lot to prove, and I suspect Harbaugh is on that lot to prove bus, too.

On the other hand, unless several miracles of the receiver’s sort arrive from Heaven, I don’t see my Panthers scoring many points at all during the new season.

Ravens make and go deep into the playoffs next year. Panthers (at least predicting at this point with the players they’ve lost) might go 8-8.

Smith will shine in the ravens offense, only if Ozzie makes the right moves to protect our 121 mil qb! Monroe and yanda are the only sure things. KO is ok, but we need a new center like California needs a torrential down pour. Am I the only ravens fan excited about ohre being gone? No more false starts from the right side. Enjoy that titans

For all of you hooked on the 3 year and $11 million, the only part he actually gets is his signing bonus of $3.5 million. He could get cut this year and that’s all he’d get. None of the rest of the money is guaranteed, nor are the years. IF he stays all year he gets an extra $1 million, and then in 2015 and 2016 IF he is still on the team he gets $3 million each season with a chance to earn an extra $1 million each year IF he is in on 60% of the offensive snaps.

While he is not tall, all the Panthers fans will tell you that Smith fights for the ball, makes tough catches all the time, and has a knack for getting open even with press coverage, something our other WR’s lack.

Even though he will be 35, we have a habit of taking good veteran guys that know how to play and getting every ounce of football out of them. Derrick Mason was here in his mid to late 30’s and was a very productive guy even though he wasn’t a big guy, he wasn’t fast at all. He could just run amazing routes and actually catch the football, then he’d fight for every yard he could get after that.

Also, don’t forget that we still have Jacoby Jones who will be the extreme deep option while Pitta and Smith take the underneath, a healthy Ray Rice is the dump off option, and that leaves the whole intermediate area of the field wide open for Torrey. Now imagine if we manage to get Eric Ebron in the draft and have that freaky mis-match guy running dual TE sets with Pitta & the gang.

We’ve got the weapons now. Now we need to help the defense (we lost Corey Graham, James Ihedigbo, Arthur Jones, and Jameel McClain) and please, please please patch up that offensive live. Last year it was certainly offensive, but not in a points putting on the board or putting up tons of yardage kind of way.

ed…you seem like a very smart ravens fan. most of the Steelers fans that post here are pretty good. but some are just trolls that really know nothing about football. they know their team is in trouble so they attempt to mock a team like the Ravens. hope to see more of your posts

Torrey caught 65 passes for 1,128 yards last season. What hurt was the decline in TDs as he went from 8 the previous season to 4.

But if he is going to have an even better year next season? Wow, that will be one BIG season then. To me the production is just about right, but would like to see him around the double digit mark in TDs. Since Pitta is our main go to guy in the redzone and we had trouble with the O-line and deep passing attack, the opportunities just weren’t there.

I am not saying this offense is going to be the best in the world. Everybody has to stay healthy, the O-line has to get better, Ray Rice needs to get back to his former self (he’s dropped 15 lbs so far, so he’s heading in the right direction, now let’s hope the video of his fight with his lady isn’t as bad as it sounds), and then this has the makings of a productive offense. The defense was pretty solid last year too, but it suffered some growing pains. If the Ravens get more of a coverage safety to move Elam back to SS where he should be, we get another decent ILB, Suggs and Dumervil stay healthy…I see no reason why the D shouldn’t be pretty good again.

Ravens have a chance to be a good team again this season and that’s even before the draft and free agency is all over.

BTW, if the Steelers weren’t such a tough team on a yearly basis, our rivalry with them wouldn’t be as good, would it?

You’d think the Browns would be our big time rival since, well, we are the old Browns. But that team just can’t seem to figure it out and be competitive. So…when a team isn’t even on the radar, that doesn’t really make for a good rivalry.

Now the Bengals have emerged and the AFC North is one of the tougher divisions in the league. If Andy Dalton takes that next step forward…look out, that’s a dangerous team.

Ozzie Newsome is a very solid GM who has kept the Ravens at the top of the AFC for many years but he really screwed up with Anquan Boldin. That guy is super clutch and he was playing under a very reasonable contract. In some ways Newsome is overrated as a GM and talent evaluator.

Everyone saying Oz should’ve kept Boldin at $6M is benefitting from hindsight he wasn’t afforded. Pitta was the replacement, and then he dislocated his hip. End of story. Better a year early than a year late, even if that means you miss out on some production.

I remember Smith as being a real ‘me-guy’ when Panther QB’s before Cam overthrew or under threw him. He’s gonna just love playing for the most overrated QB in the league.

EJ says:Mar 16, 2014 5:33 PM

The thing that the Ravens need is help on 3rd downs and short yardage situations. With Smith on the roster, 3rd downs should improve drastically. I’m sure they will also attempt to get Smith involved in WR screens and end-arounds, which should shore up a bunch of their offensive woes. Defense… Work needs to be done.

Greatest Carolina Panther of all time finishes his career in Baltimore because GM Gettleman found him difficult to deal with.
Absolute disgrace that Steve Smith kicked out the door like a piece of trash. Stay classy Carolina.

The Ravens normally know who to keep and who to cut and who to draft! So..it’s no secret they messed up BIG time last year by letting Boldin go! Yea..the salary cap hurt us bad and we had little choice. But this is there attempt to make things right and get a tough guy underneath! Much like Welker, Boldin, Eldelman…etc. So congrats to the Ravens. NOw its time for you to get your superbowl ring Steve Smith!! You gota have balls to play in B More!! And you will be a great fit!!! Can’t wait to see the new offence!!